Doomsday parties worldwide

People raise their hands during a ceremony last week by Mayan sages in Bacuranao, Cuba. From Russia to California, thousands are preparing for the possible end of the world, foretold (according to one reading) by a Mayan calendar.RAMON ESPINOSA, AP

Though the Mayans never really predicted that the world would end on Friday, some New Agers are convinced that humanity's demise is indeed imminent. Or at least that it's a good excuse for a party.

Believers are being drawn to spots where they think their chances of survival will be better, and accompanying them are the curious, the party-lovers and people wanting to make some money.

Here are some of the world's key doomsday destinations and other places marked by fear and fascination.

MEXICO

About 1,000 self-described shamans, seers, stargazers, crystal enthusiasts, yogis, sufis and swamis are gathering in a convention center in the city of Merida on the Yucatan peninsula about an hour and a half from the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, convinced that it was a good start to the coming "New Era" supposed to begin around 5:00 a.m. local time Friday. These are not people who believe the world will end on Friday: the summit is scheduled to run through Dec. 23. Instead, participants say, they want to celebrate the birth of a new age.

Meanwhile, Mexico's self-styled "brujo mayor," or chief soothsayer, Antonio Vazquez Alba, who warned followers to stay away from all gatherings on Dec. 21. "We have to beware of mass psychosis" that could lead to stampedes or "mass suicides, of the kind we've seen before," he said.

Star gazers are planning to welcome in the new era with a dawn ceremony Friday at Uxmal, the only major Mayan pyramid that has rounded edges. Others will spend the day at the more famous Chichen Itza archaeological site.

Also, organizers of Yucatan's broader Mayan Culture Festival saw the need to answer some of the now-debunked idea that the Mayas, who invented an amazingly accurate calendar almost 2,000 years ago, had somehow predicted the end of the world. The Yucatan state government asked a scientist to talk about the work of Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland to debunk the idea it could produce world-ending rogue particles.

FRANCE

According to one rumor, a rocky mountain in the French Pyrenees will be the sole place on earth to escape destruction. A giant UFO and aliens are said to be waiting under the mountain, ready to burst through and spirit those nearby to safety. But here is bad news for those seeking salvation: French gendarmes, some on horseback, are blocking outsiders from reaching the Bugarach peak and its village of some 200 people.

One believer, Ludovic Broquet, a 30-year-old plumber, made his way to the mountain after a year of preparation, hoping to find a "gateway, the vortex that will open up here (at) the end of the world."

Local residents, instead, are skeptical — and angry at having their peace disturbed. "What is going on here is the creation of an urban legend," fumed resident Michele Pous, who blamed those who spread Internet rumors. "They created a media frenzy, they created a false event, they manipulated people."

RUSSIA

For $1,500, a museum is offering salvation from the world's end in former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's underground bunker in central Moscow — with a 50 percent refund if nothing happens.

The bunker, located 65 meters (210 feet) below ground, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Now home to a small museum, it has an independent electricity supply, water and food — but no more room, because the museum has already sold out all 1,000 tickets.

BRITAIN

Hundreds of people have already converged on Stonehenge for an "End of the World" party that coincides with the Winter Solstice.

Arthur Uther Pendragon, Britain's best-known druid, said he was anticipating a much larger crowd than usual at Stonehenge this year. But he doesn't agree that the world is ending, noting that he and fellow druids believe that things happen in cycles.

"We're looking at it more as a new beginning than an end," he said. "We're looking at new hope."

Meanwhile, end-of-days parties will be held across London on Friday. One event billed as a "last supper club" is offering a three-course meal served inside of an "ark."

People raise their hands during a ceremony last week by Mayan sages in Bacuranao, Cuba. From Russia to California, thousands are preparing for the possible end of the world, foretold (according to one reading) by a Mayan calendar. RAMON ESPINOSA, AP
Stefano Ariu, a Dutch artist, puts the finishing touches to his painting depicting the Pic de Bugarach mountain in the town of Bugarach, France. Burgurach, nestled in the French Pyrenees mountains, is bracing for the arrival of hundreds of New Age enthusiasts and UFO believers that want to witness the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. He's one of many around the world marking or celebrating the "end of the world" some believe is foretold for Dec. 21. MARKO DROBNJAKOVIC, AP
A man walks past street art in east London, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. The clock is ticking down to Dec. 21, the supposed end of the Mayan calendar, and from China to California to Mexico, thousands are getting ready for what they think is going to be a fateful day. The Maya didn't say much about what would happen next, after a 5,125-year cycle known as the Long Count comes to an end. So into that void have rushed occult writers, bloggers and New Age visionaries foreseeing all manner of monumental change, from doomsday to a new age of enlightenment. MATT DUNHAM, AP
Richard Gates sells para-cord bracelets at his A Plus Survival store in Orange County. The handmade in America bracelets unravel to a 19-foot-long, 550 lbs. strength nylon rope. The bracelets could be used as emergency harnesses, tourniquets or help in building outdoor structures, he says. Gates has noticed an increase in customers asking for supplies because of the Mayan calendar doomsday prophecies for Dec. 21. H. LORREN AU JR., ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Burgurach, nestled in the French Pyrenees mountains, is bracing for the arrival of hundreds of New Age enthusiasts and UFO believers that want to witness the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. MARKO DROBNJAKOVIC, AP

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